Online Trust: State of the Art, New Frontiers, and Research Potential

Online trust is growing in importance as a topic of study and its influence on Internet marketing strategies is increasing. “Online trust includes consumer perceptions of how the site would deliver on expectations, how believable the site's information is, and how much confidence the site commands." (Bart, Yakov, Venkatesh Shankar, Fareena Sultan, and Glen L. Urban [2005], “Are the Drivers and Role of Online Trust the Same for All Web Sites and Consumers? A Large-Scale Exploratory Empirical Study,” Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 133–152). In this article, we review advances in online trust research based on an overarching framework, outlining the key insights learned so far. These insights include: online trust extends beyond privacy and security, is closely connected to website design, its formation is an ongoing process, and is heterogeneous across individuals and products. We propose several ideas for future research relating to multiple aspects of online research, such as the longitudinal component, multichannel element, global aspect, personalization and cross-disciplinary nature.